Sir David Attenborough receives hate mail from viewers because he does not credit God in his nature programmes, he has disclosed.

By Anita Singh, Showbusiness Editor

6:00AM GMT 27 Jan 2009

The BBC television presenter and conservationist said he expected to be sent more such letters when his latest project, a documentary about Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, is broadcast on Sunday.

Sir David Attenborough receives hate mail from viewers because he does not credit God in his nature programmes.

"They tell me to burn in hell and good riddance," Sir David said, explaining that he is regularly asked why he does not "give credit" to the Lord for creating the flora and fauna featured in his programmes.

"They always mean beautiful things like hummingbirds. I always reply by saying that I think of a little child in East Africa with a worm burrowing through his eyeball. The worm cannot live in any other way, except by burrowing through eyeballs. I find that hard to reconcile with the notion of a divine and benevolent creator."

Sir David said he was raised in a religion-free household and it had "never really occurred to me to believe in God... I do remember looking at my headmaster delivering a sermon, a classicist, extremely clever - and thinking, 'He can't really believe all that, can he? How incredible!'"

He told of his exasperation when people ask: 'What is a mosquito for? They're no good for anything!' Sir David said he despaired of "that basic notion that the world is our oyster, that we have dominion over all things, that they are here for us". Asked where the notion came from, he replied: "The Bible, of course. Genesis, chapter one."

In an interview with the Radio Times, Sir David, 82, attacked the "terrible, terrible" fact that some British state schools are allowed to teach children that creationism and evolution have equal merit. "It's like saying that two and two equals four but, if you wish it, it could also be five. This is one of the errors. Evolution is not a theory. It is a fact, every bit as much as the historical fact that William the Conqueror landed in 1066. Indeed, more so, because all we have to tell us about William are a few bits of paper here or there - not very much at all. For evolution we have much more evidence: palaeontology, embryology, biology, geology.

"Darwin revolutionised the way we see the world fundamentally, but his basic proposition is still not taken on board by a lot of people." Sir David acknowledged, however, that "it would be a very bold scientist, and certainly not me, who believes it's the be all and end all".

:: Charles Darwin And The Tree Of Life will be shown on BBC One at 9pm on Sunday